Sheet feeder for printing machine



Jan. 8, 1963 Filed Feb. 16. 1960 D. LINCOLN EI'AL SHEET FEEDER FOR PRINTING MACHINE 7 Sheets-Sheet l 1963 D. LINCOLN EIAL 3,

SHEET FEEDER FOR PRINTING MACHINE Filed Feb. 16, 1960 7 Sheets-Sheet 2 3 D. LINCOLEI ETAL 3,072,051

SHEET FEEDER FOR PRINTING MACHINE v Filed Feb. 16. 1960 7 Sheets-Sheet 3 Jan. 8, 1963 D. LINCOLN ETAL 3,

SHEET FEEDER FOR PRINTING MACHINE Filed Feb. 16, 1960 7 Shets-Sheet 4 Jan. 8, 1963 D. LINCOLN El'AL SHEET FEEDER FOR PRINTING MACHINE '7 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Feb. 16, 1960 D. LINCOLN ETAL SHEET FEEDER FOR PRINTING MACHINE Jan. 8, 1953 '7 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed Feb. 16. 1960 n- 1963 D. LINCOLN EIAL 3,072,051

FEEDER FOR PRINTING MACHINE Filed Feb. 16, 1960 Sheets-Sheet '7 United States Patent Oflfice 3,7Z,ll5l Patented Jan. 8, 1963 3,072,tl51 SHEET FEEDER FUR hRlNTENG MACHINE David Lincoln, Edward Righter, .lr., and William G. Wilson, Neenah, Wis, assignors to Kimberly-Clark Corporatinn, Neenah, Wis, a corporation of Delaware Filed Feb. 16, 1968, der. No. 9,693 23 Claims. (31. fill-2Z7) Our invention relates to machines for making and converting paper and more particularly to printing machines.

Printing machines of many different types have beenin general use for many years, one of these types being a so called planographic duplicating machine disclosed, for example, in Patent 2,293,046 issued on August 18, 1942, to Franklin E. Curtis.

Such duplicating machines are commonly constructed to utilize stacked, pre-cut individual sheets which are taken from the stack at a certain station one at a time to be printed individually. Paper in the form of pre-cut sheets is understandably more expensive than paper in roll form, and it is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide an improved attachment utilizing paper in roll form which attachment is particularly suitable for use in connection with such duplicating machines.

It is another object of the invention to provide such an improved attachment that comprises a cutter for cutting Web into individual sheets at the same rate of speed as the printing machine is effective for printing the sheets.

it is a further object of the invention to construct the attachment so that the cut sheets are delivered to said station in a manner that the sheets are accumulated in a thin pile and so that the top sheet can be removed for printing without interrupting or interfering with the supplying of sheets to the pile.

it is still another object of the invention to provide an improved paper decurling mechanism in such an attachment which decurls a paper web from a roll by putting a reverse bend on the web that increases with a decrease in size of the roll, so as to be effective to provide substantially fiat sheets regardless of the amount of paper that has been used from a roll of a given size.

The invention consists of the novel constructions, arrangements and devices to be hereinafter described and claimed for carrying out the above stated objects, and such other objects, as will be apparent from the following description of a preferred form of the invention, illustrated with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

PEG. 1 is a side elevational view of a printing machine and a sheeting attachment therefor embodying the prin' ciples of the invention;

FIG. 2 is an elevational view of the sheeting attachment, taken on an enlarged scale, with certain parts being broken away for clearness of illustration;

FIG. 3 is an elevational sectional view of a portion of the sheeting attachment, taken on a still further enlarged scale;

FIG. 4 is an elevational view of the attachment and showing a paper roll and holding mechanism therefor;

PEG. 5 is a plan view of the sheeting attachment;

FIG. 6 is an end view of the sheeting attachment;

FIG. 7 is an elevational view of the sheeting attachment taken on scales that are enlarged with respect to that of FIGS. 2 and 4 and showing contain details of construction;

FIG. 8 is an elevational sectional view of the sheeting attachment taken on the same scale as FIG. 7 and showing in some detail a cutting rotor of the sheeting attachment;

FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken on line 9-9 of FIG. 8 but with the cutting rotor being angularly turned from its position shown in FIG. 8; and

FIG. 10 is a top view on a reduced scale of the sheeting attachment affixed to the printing machine.

Like characters of reference designate like parts in the several views.

Referring now to the drawings, the illustrated printing mechanism may be seen to comprise a printing unit 19 and a roll sheeting attachment 11 for the printing unit. The printing unit 10 comprises a frame 12 enclosed by a cabinet 13 which is provided with doors 14 to permit access to the interior thereof. A printing assembly 15 is mounted on the frame 12 at the upper right hand end as viewed in FIG. 1. At the left hand end of the cabinet, there is a stack or pile support 16 which may support a stack of pre-cut work sheets to be separated and fed one at a time to the printing assembly 15, assuming that the roll sheeting attachment 11 is not being utilized. A sheet separating and feeding device 17 is located atop the cabinet, adjacent the pile support 16.

The printing unit ltl is a planographic duplicating machine. The printing assernbly 15 is supported on a pair of cross bars 18 of the frame 12 and comprises a pattern roll 1?, an offset roll 2% a platen roll 21 and an inking mechanism (not shown). The various rolls of the printing assembly are journaled in suitable side plates one of which is designated by the reference numeral 22.

The printing assembly 15 is driven by a motor 23 mounted on a bracket 24 disposed within the cabinet 13. Suitable driving elements, including belts 25 and 26 and pulleys 27, 23, 29 and 3t) interconnect the motor 23 with a gear 31 which meshes with a gear 32 carried by the offset roll 29, thus driving the latter. The pattern roll 19 is driven by frictional engagement with the offset roll 20 in the usual manner. The platen roll 21 is driven by a gear 33 carried thereby and which meshes with the gear 32. The various rolls and pulleys are disposed on shafts suitably journaled in the plates 22; the pulleys 28 and 29, for example, being fixed on a shaft 34 which may be termed the main drive shaft of the printing unit 10.

The pile support 16, which may support a stack of sheets, comprises a table 35 provided with a pair of side flanges 36 each of which carries rollers 37 and 38. These rollers project outwardly from the sides of the table 35 and engage the flanges of vertically extending channels 39 carried by the frame 12 thus guiding the table for vertical movement.

The table 35 is supported by a pair of chains, one of which is designated by the reference numeral 40. These chains are attached to respective side flanges 36 of the table 35 and extend upward to respective: sprocket wheels 41 and thence downward. Counterweights 42 are secured to the depending free ends of the chains. The sprocket wheels 41 are secured to a cross shaft 43 which is journaled in side plates 44 supported by the frame 12. A crank 45 is provided on the shaft 43 for the purpose of raising and lowering the table 35 as desired.

The sheet separating device 17 comprises a suction foot 46 and a suction pump 47 connected to the foot 46. The foot 46 is secured to a shaft 48 which is journaled at its ends in a pair of arms 49. The arms 4? are secured to a cross shaft 50 rotatably mounted in the side plates 44. The shaft 50 has a lever 51 fixed to it, and the lever 51 is suitably connected to the motor 23 so that the lever 51 and shaft 50 are moved counterclockwise as illustrated in FIG. 2 and back again into their illustrated positions in timed relationship to rotation of the rolls 19 and 20. At the same time, along with this movement, the suction foot 46 is moved to the right as seen in FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 7 and 8 and returned again to its illustrated position by suitable cam mechanism.

The vacuum pump 47 is driven by means of an electric motor 52 and is connected by means of a vacuum line 53 with the foot 46. Valve mechanism 54 is disposed in the vacuum line 53 and is actuated by suitable mechanism, so that the :vacuum pump is intermittently connected to the vacuurnfoot whereby, as the foot moves, sheets carried by the table 35, for example, are moved one at a time upwardly and to the right as seen in the last mentioned figures.

Sheet transferring mechanism 55 is provided between the sheetseparating device 17 and the rolls 19 and 20 which includes feed rolls 56 and S7 in contact and between which the suction foot 46 is, arranged to insert sheetsofpaper. A paper stop 58 is positioned adjacent the feed roll 56, and spring fingers 59 extend through .the stop 58, for positioning a sheet W with respect to the feed rolls s and 57. For details of the sheet transferring mechanism 55,-as Wellas for details of the printing assembly and the mechanisms for operating the pressure foot 46 and the valve 54, as well as for other details of the printing unit 10, Patent No. 2,293,046, above mentioned, may be referredto. This patent may also be referred to for a somewhat detailed description of the operation of the unit 10; however, this briefly will now be set forth.

Paper sheets W either positioned on the table beneath the vacuum foot 46, or else otherwise likewise positioned, such as by means of our improved roll sheeting attachment 11, are picked up by the pressure foot 46 and are directed into the bite between the rolls 56 and 57. The sheets are transported one at a time by means of'the transporting mechanism to the rolls 19, 2t) and 2 1,- and upon being printed by passing between the rolls 2% and 21, the sheets are discharged one at a time therefrom and are suitably collected.

Ourimproved roll sheeting attachment 11 is adapted to be installed on such a printing unit it) as above described; and, by means of theattachment, sheets are cut one at a time for presentation at a station beneath the vacuum foot 46 in lieu of providing a pile of precut sheets on the table 35. The roll sheeting attachment comprises a pair of arms 7ft joined by a cross brace 71. The arms and cross brace rest on the table 35, and each of the arms 74) is provided with a clip 72 that extends around an edge of and underneath the table 35 for holding the arms on the table. Each of the arms 7% is provided with a hook 73 that detachably fixes the arms with respect to the opposite edge of the table 35. The arms are each provided with a groove or slot 74 for receiving an end of a mandrel 75 extending through a roll of paper 76, so that the table 35 by means of the arms 7t supports the roll 76. The roll 76 is so positioned, as shown, that it unwinds upwardly on the side of the roll remote from the printing unit it The attachment comprises a frame 77 that is fixed at one end to the frame 12 of the unit 10 by means of machine screws 78. A pair of standards 79 and '80 connected by means of a shield 81 of semi-circular cross section are fixed to the frame 77. A shaft 82 is journaled in the standards '79 and 8d and has a sprocket 83 fixed theretoat one end. The sprocket 83 is drivingly connected with a sprocket 84 by means of a chain 85. The sprocket S4 is fixed on the main drive shaft 34 of the unit 16, so that the shaft 82 is driven in timed relationship with respect to the shaft 34 and also with respect to the parts of the unit 10 that are driven from the shaft 34. The frame 77 is held approximately in horizontal position by means of braces 86 which are bifurcated at their lower ends to embrace a cross brace 87 of the frame 12 and which are suitably fixed to the frame 77 at their upper. ends.

A cutter rotor 88 is rotatably journaled in, a rotor frame 89 that is fixed on to the frame 77. The rotor 88 is provided with a plurality of spaced disc portions 98 and with a longitudinally extending slot 91. A cutter knife 92 supported by a knife back f3 are disposed in the slot 91, and knife pads 94 and 95 of resilient material are disposed in the slot 91 radially inwardly of the knife 2 and back 93. The rotor frame it? is provided with a slot 96, and a bed knife 97 adapted to cooperate with the knife 9Zis provided in the slot 96. The cutter rotor 88 is driven from the shaft 82 by means of a spur gear 98 which is fixed on the shaft 82 and is in mesh with a gear 9 fixed to the rotor 88.

A web feed roller 160 is rotatably disposed between frame members lot which are fixed with respect to the frame 77. An idler roller M2 is in contact with the roller 1% and is adjustably positioned in slots 163 in the frame members M1 by means of bearings 104. The idler roller 7.62 is held in forceful contact with the rol er 1% by means of springs 1G5 extending between the bearings TM and studs 1% that are fixed with respect to the frame members 1931. The roller 1% is driven in timed relationship withrespect to the rotor 8% by means of gears 167 and 1%. The gear 107 is detachably fixed with respect to the gear 9% by means of a clutch which is in the form of a pin 1&9 in the illustrated embodiment, and the gear 1% is fixed with respect to the roller 1%.

A tape frame 11% is jonrnaled with respect to a tape roller 111 that is in turn journaled With respect to the frame 77. The frame 11% is held substantially inhorizontal position by means of a toggle pin 1.12 that extends through both of the frames 77 and 11%. Rolls 113 and 114 are rotatably disposed between the frame 11d, and tapes 115 extend around the rollers 111,113 and 114 between the frames Md. The rolls 111, 113, and are out of line with each other to provide inclined tape portions between the rolls 111 and 113 and substantially horizontal tape portions between the rolls 113 and 114.

The roller 111 and thereby the tapes 115 are driven from the shaft 32 by means of sprockets 116 and 117 fixed respectively to the shaft 32 and the roller 111. A chain 113 encircles the sprockets 116 and 117 and maintains them in driving relation with respect to each other.

A pair of spring pressed rollers 119- bear on two of the tapes 115 for holding paper sheets W on the tapes, and a plurality of paper guides are provided, forwardly of the rollers 119. These are the front side guides 120a and 12%, the back side guide 1200, and the top spring guide 120d.

A decurling device is provided for the paper and comprises a bar 121 bearing on the roll 75 and extending between spaced arms 122. The arms 122 are fixed with respect to a shaft 123 that is journaled within a pair of depending arms 124 respectively fixed with respect to the side frames 77 in such positions that the shaft 123 extends parallel with the roll mandrel 75. A counterweight 125 is disposed on an arm 126 that is fixed to the shaft 123. The arm 126 extends approximately at 45 degrees with respect to horizontal (as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 4) when the bar 121 bears on a relatively small diameter paper roll '76.

As will be observed from FIG. 9, the blade 92 extends at a very small angle with respect to a plane extending through the center of the shaft 82, and the blade 97 and the back 73 are skewed slightly horizontally with respect to a longitudinal center line of the frame 77, the right end of the blade @7 as seen in FIG. 9 being behind the left end in the direction of web travel.

in operation, the roll 16-35 is driven from the shaft 82 by means of the gears 93, as, 1d? and 1&8 and the clutch 1699, and the shaft 82 is driven timed relationship to the parts of the printing unit 10 b means of the sprockets 83 and 34 and the chain 85. Paper web 127 extends through the nip between the rolls 100 and 102 and is drawn beneath the bar 121 ofi the roll 76. The web extends from the roll fill) beneath the knife rotor 88, and the rotor $8 is driven in timed relationship with parts of the printing unit it) from the shaft 32 through the gears 93 and 99. The knife 92 comes in contact with and has a shearing action with respect to the knife 97 once for each revolultion of the rotor 88 so as to cut the web into individual sheets W. Due to the fact that the knife 92 is not eXactly in a plane passing through the center of the rotor shaft 32, the edges of the knives 92 and 97 do not contact simultaneously along their edges from end to end, but the knives rather have a shearing action from one end to the other for providing clean cut sheets W. The back 93 and thereby the knife 97 are turned slightly so that the knife 97 does not extend eX- actly perpendicularly of the line of travel of the web 127, so that sheets W having square corners are cut by the cutting mechanism.

The web 127 moves on to the tapes 115, being propelled by the rolls 1110 and 102, and the individual sheets W provided by the knives 92 and 97 move upwardly along the inclined portions of the tapes 115 between the rolls 111 and 113 to horizontal portions of the tapes 115 between the rolls 113 and 114-. The roller 111 and the tapes 115 are driven in timed relationship to the parts of the unit through the sprockets 116 and 117 and the chain 118. At this station of the sheets, they are stopped by the stop 58 and fingers 59 to be beneath the suction foot 46. The side guides 1211a, 1241b and 1200 assure that the sheets move along the tapes 115, so that their edges are respectively parallel to and perpendicular to the path of movement of the sheets and so that the sheets are positioned squarely at this station. Jamming of the sheets in the attachment 11 and in the printing unit 10 due to oblique movement of the sheets is thus avoided. It is contemplated that these guides may be adjusted, as by bending them, so that the sheets are positioned in a proper position transversely of the tapes 115', whereby the sheets have correct registration in the unit 10. The top spring guide 129a bears against the sheets and assures good frictional contact between them and the tapes 115. Subsequently cut sheets from the rotor 88 travel upwardly along the tapes 115 into positions beneath any of the sheets W that happen to remain at this station on the tapes 115 between the rollers 113 and 114 to provide a superimposed plurality of sheets or thin piles at this station. The subsequently cut sheets travel beneath any prior sheets held by the stop 58 and fingers 59 at this station due to the fact that the sheets W are longer than the distance between the Stop 58 and the roll 113, so that the trailing end portions of the sheets W extend over are separated from the obliquely and upwardly extending stretches of the tapes 115 between the rolls 111 and 113. A sheet W at this station with its trailing end portion protruding over these stretches of the tapes is illustrated in PEG. 4. Thus, the leading edges of subsequent sheets travelling upwardly on the stretches of the tapes 115 between the rolls 111 and 113 pass underneath the trailing end portions of any previous sheets W at this station and continue movement under previous sheets at this station, due to movement of the tapes, until reaching the stop 58, so as to form a pile of sheets at this station. Preferably the sheets W shall be allowed to accumulate at this station to form only a thin pile. The suction foot 46 is effective for transferring the sheets, one at a time, from the top or" this thin pile at this station over the fingers 59 on to the sheet transferring mechanism 55; and the printing unit 111 is then effective to print the sheets in accordance with previous practice. The roller 1%, the rotor 38, and the roller 111 are so timed with respect to the parts of the printing unit 10 that sheets are presented at the station between the rollers 113 and 114 at a rate that just equals the capacity of the printing unit 1ft, so that there is no substantial collection of sheets W at this station, although the accumulation of a few sheets at the stop 53 is of no consequence in the operation of the printing mechanism.

As will be understood, the paper on the roll 76 has a curl which is due to the bending of initially flat paper around a core in winding the roll and which is greater the closer it is in the roll to the roll center. It is desirable that this curl be removed from the roll prior to the web entering the nip between the rolls 101} and 1112 so that the sheets W may be substantially flat. The decurling mechanism for the web 127 thus has been constructed to put a reverse bend on the web 127 for taking the curl out of the web, which reverse bend is progres: sively greater as the web is drawn closer to the center of the roll 76. The rod 121 bears on the roll 76 inwardly (toward the right as seen in FIG. 4) with respect to a tangent 128 to the rolls 76 and to bend the web 127 backwardly to remove the paper curl. The shaft 123 has been so located that the rod 121 travels in an are quite close to and above the shaft 75 and between the shaft 75 and the shaft 123 as the size of the paper roll 76 decreases to final exhaustion, and it will be observed that the rod 121 is practically vertically above the roll shaft 75 when the roll 76 is nearly exhausted. The relative locations of the roll 1013, the roll shaft 75, the rod 121 and the shaft 123 causes the reverse bend put on the paper to become greater as the roll 76 decreases in diameter. Thus, a greater reverse bend is put on the web 127, the smaller the roll 76 becomes, to compensate for and correct for the greater inherent curling of the paper closer to the roll center.

The counterweight 125 functions to maintain the rod 121 in contact with the paper roll 76 as the web 127 is drawn from the roll and functions to provide an increased force of the rod 121 on the paper roll 76 as the roll 76 decreases in diameter. The springs 11% are adjusted to provide a substantial force of the roll 1112 on the roll 100, so that there is little slippage of the paper 127 with respect to the rolls 1192 and 1151 The increased force provided by the rod 121 on the roll 76 thus gradually increases the tension on the web 127 between the roll 76 and the rolls 1% and 102 as the roll 76 decreases in diameter. Due to this increased web tension, the web 127 is rawn more tightly around the rod 121 as the paper roll 76 decreases in diameter so as to more sharply bend the Web 127 underneath the bar 121' and provide greater de-i curling action. The greater force on the rod 121 is due to the fact that the arm 126 comes more nearly into a horizontal position as the rod 121 travels inwardly with a decrease in diameter of the paper roll 7 6, and thus the effective lever arm for the counterweight 125 is increased to provide increased torque on the shaft 123 to which the arms 122 carrying the rod 121 are tired. Thus, the web 127 is decurled effectively as the paper roll decreases in diameter not only due to the greater reverse bend put on the web 127 as the rod 121 travels in an are above the shaft 75 but also due to the greater braking action of the rod 121 on the paper roll 76 and the resultant increased tension on the web 127.

Certain parts of the sheeting attachment 11 may be easily moved out of their illustrated positions so as to allow the printing unit 1t] to be used with sheets stacked on the table 35 in lieu of the paper roll 76. In order to provide this change, a roll 76 and its mandrel 75 are removed from the arms 7 t1, and the arms are removed from the table 35 by releasing the books 73 and moving the arms 71} forwardly to release the clips 72 from the lower surface of the table 35. The toggle pin 112, extending through both of the frames 77 and is removed, and the frame 110 is allowed to drop downwardly, pivoting about the roll 111, so that the frame 110 is now out of position with respect to a stack of pre-cut sheets positioned on the table 35. The arm 126 carrying the counterweight is then swung over center so as to move the rod 121 and the arms 122 out of positions in which they might interfere with the table 35. The printing mechanism then operates with the stack of pre-cut sheets in the conventional manner, with sheets being removed one at a time from the stack on top of the table 35. The clutch 1119 is preferably disengaged at this time for preventing undue wear of moving parts of the attachment 11. The clutch Hi9 may, incidentally, also be disengaged at any other time it is desired that the unit 1% only shall be in operation, as during cleaning or during preparatory steps to be taken in connection with the unit it) prior to printing.

As has been hereinbefore described, the sheets W as they are brought to the station in contact with the stop move beneath any sheets that have been previously brought to this station by the belts 115. There may thus be an no cumulation, such as of 2 to 5 sheets, for example, at this station; and the suction foot 46 functions as described, moving individual sheets one at a time from the top of such a stack into the bite of the rolls 56 and 57. There thus need be no exact synchronism or co-ordination be tween the movement of the foot do and movements of the individual sheets W to this station, as would be necessar if the sheets moved to this station without such an accumulation or moved to this station on top of previously accumulated sheets at this station. Such a timing problem has thus been avoided; and the arrangement allowing such a sheet accumulation, in addition, permits the operator of the printing mechanism to start both the printing unit in and also the rotor 38 so as to produce the cut sheets W prior to the application of vacuum to the foot 46 for actually putting the complete machine in operation, so that both the printing unit it} and the sheetingattacliment 11 may preliminarily be checked for operativeness. Allowing a small accumulation of sheets W at this station also assures that the stop 58 is effective for squaring the sheets with respect to their direction of travel over the tapes $15 so that there is no resultant clogging of the sheets in the printing mechanism.

Our improved roll attachment for printing machines advantageously allows the use of paper rolls in lieu of individual sheets, even though the pr .ting machines have been originallyconstructed for use of stacked individual sheets. Paper may be more cheaply purchased in rolls than in individual sheets, and there is thus a resultant saving using the attachment. The attachment advantageously may be easily moved into an inoperative position so that the usual table may be used if desired with stacked sheets. The decurling mechanism used in connection with the attachment, including the rod 121 that is moved closer to and on one side of the center of the paper roll as the web is drawn from the roll, assures that a greater backward bend is given to the paper web, the closer the center of the roll is approached, for effectively decurling the web.

We wish it to be understood that our invention is not to be limited to the specific constructions and arrangements shown and described, except only insofar as the claims may be so limited, as it will be understood to those skilled in the art that changes may be made without departing f: m the principles of the invention.

We claim:

l. in a printing machine, the combination of mechanism for printing individual sheets sequentially, means for holding a roll of paper, a cutter device driven in timed relationship to said printing mechanism for cutting paper sheets the paper roll at substantially the same speed as said sheets are printed, means for presenting the cut sheets to said printing mechanism for prir ing, and means for dee sing the paper from the roll prior to said cutter device and including a pivotally mounted member around which paper from the roll passes and adapted to bear on the surface of the paper roll and movable toward one side of the center of the paper roll as the roll decreases in diameter for thereby putting a reverse bend on the paper that increases as the size of the roll decreases.

2. In a printing machine, the combination of mechav nism for printing individual sheets sequentially, means for holding a roll of paper, a cutter device driven timed relationship to said printing mechanism for cutting paper sheets from the paper roll at substantially the same speed as said printing mechanism is efiective for printing the sheets, means for delivering the cut sheets to said print- Cir ing mechanism, and means for 'decurling paper from said roll prior to the action of said cutter device including a rod adapted to bear on the periphery of the roll so as to put a reverse bend in the paper as it is drawn from the roll, and linkage for mounting said rod so that it moves arcuately toward one side of the center of the paper roll as the roll decreases in diameter for increasing the reverse bend put on the paper as it is drawn from the paper roll with decreases in diameter of the paper roll.

3. In a printing machine, the combination of mechanism for drawing paper sheets from a certain station and printing the sheets sequentially, means for holding a roll of paper, a cutter device comprising a rotatable knife and a stationary knife, means for driving said rotatable knife in timed relationship to said printing mechanism so as to cut individual sheets from the paper roll at substantially the same speed as the sheets are printed by said printing mechanism, a pair of feed rolls driven in timed relationship to said rotatable knife and said printing mechanism for drawing paper from the roll and presenting it between said knives, a plurality of tapes driven in timed relationship to said printing mechanism for receiving paper sheets from said cutter device and for presenting them at said certain station, and means for decurling the paper as it is drawn from said paper roll prior to the action of said cutter deivce and including a rod travelling on the surface of the roll and putting a reverse bend on the paper as it is drawn from the roll, and a pair of links for mounting the rod so that the rod may travel at an arc toward one side of the center of the paper roll and between said center and said feed rollsso as to increase the reverse bend put on the paper as the size of the paper roll decreases.

4. In a printing machine, the combination of mechanism for drawing paper sheets from a certain station and ,table and comprising a pair of arms fastened on to said table, a cutter device comprising a stationary knife and a rotor carrying a knife that cooperates in paper shearing action with the stationary knife on rotation of the rotor, means for driving said rotor in timed relationship 'to'said printing mechanism so as to cut individual sheets from the paper roll at substantially the same speed as the sheets are printed by said printing mechanism, a pair of feed rolls positioned above the roll of paper and driven 'in timed relationship to said rotatable knife and said printing mechanism for drawing paper from the paper roll and presenting it between said knives, a plurality of tapes driven in timed relationship with said printing mechanism for receiving paper sheets from said cutter device and for presenting them at said station, and means for decurling the paper as it is drawn from the paper roll prior to the action of said cutter device and including a rod travelling on the surface of the paper roll and positioned between the center of the paper roll and a tangent to both the paper roll and the lowermost of said feed rolls for putting a reverse bend on the paper as it is drawn from the paper roll, and a pair of links for mounting said rod so that the rod travels in an are above the center of the paper roll so as to increase the reverse bend put on the paper as the size of the paper roll decreases.

5. An attachment for a printing machine which machine has a printing mechanism to print individual sheets sequentially and which has a table for a stack of sheets fed one at a time from a certain station to the printing mechanism, said attachment comprising means for holding a roll of paper, a rotary knife and a stationaryknife, means for delivering cut sheets from said knives to said station for subsequent use by said printing mechanism, said rotary knife being adapted to be driven in timed relationship to said printing mechanism so as to provide individual sheets from said roll and sheared between said knives at substantially the same speed as said printing mechanism is capable of printing the sheets, said sheet delivering means comprising a tape frame adapted to be journaled for swinging movement with respect to the printing machine and including a plurality of rollers and tapes passing over the rollers for delivering the sheets as cut by said knives to said station, and means for holding said tape frame in position for delivering sheets from said knives to said station which means is releasable whereby the frame may be swung out of said station so that the uppermost sheets of a stack of sheets on said table may be present at said station in lieu of sheets from the paper roll for use by said printing mechanism.

6. In a printing machine, the combination of mechanism for printing individual sheets sequentially, means for holding a roll of sheet material, a cutter device driven in timed relationship to said printing mechanism for cutting sheets from the roll at substantially the same speed as said sheets are printed, means for presenting the cut sheets to said printing mechanism for printing, means for decurling the sheet material from the roll prior to said cutter device and including a member around which sheet material from the roll passes and which is so positioned that the sheet material as it passes around the member has a bend put on the sheet material which is reverse to the bend of the sheet material in the roll, and means for increasing the tension of the sheet material as it is pulled over said member with decreasing diameter of said roll for increasing the decurling action on the sheet material as the roll decreases in size.

7. In a printing machine, the combination of mechnism for printing individual sheets sequentially, means for holding a roll of paper, a cutter device driven in timed relationship to said printing mechanism for cutting paper sheets from the paper roll at substantially the same speed as said sheets are printed, means for presenting the cut sheets to said printing mechanism for printing, means for decurling the paper from the roll prior to said cutter device and including a pivotally mounted rod adapted to bear on the surface of the paper roll and movable toward one side of the center of the paper roll as the roll decreases in diameter for thereby putting a reverse bend on the paper that increases as the size of the roll decreases, and a weight piovtally movable with said rod for forcefully holding the rod on the surface of the paper roll and movable horizontally away from the pivot point of said rod so as to increase the force of the rod on the roll as the roll diameter decreases for increasing the sharpness with which the paper is bent around the rod as the roll diameter decreases to increase the decurling effect of the rod.

8. In a printing machine, the combination of mechanism for drawing paper sheets from a certain station and printing the sheets sequentially, means for holding a roll of paper, a cutter device comprising a rotatable knife and a stationary knife, means for driving said rotatable knife in timed relationship to said printing mechanism so that the knives cut individual sheets from the paper roll at substantially the same speed as the sheets are printed by said printing mechanism, a feed roll driven in timed relationship to said rotatable knife and said printing mechanism for drawing paper from the roll and presenting it between said knives, means for receiving paper sheets from said cutter device and for presenting them at said station, means for decurling the paper as it is drawn from the paper roll prior to the action of said cutter device and including a rod travelling on the surface of the roll, means for pivotally mounting said rod on an axis which is substantially parallel with the axis of the roll so that the rod moves on a are passing between said first named axis and the axis of the roll so as to draw the paper from the roll at a point thereon to one side of a tangent to the paper roll and said feed roll to put a reverse bend on the paper that increases as the size of the roll decreases, and a weight pivoted with said rod about said first named axis and providing a greater effective lever arm about said first named axis as the size of the paper roll decreases for thereby increasing the force with which the rod bears on the paper roll and thereby increasing the sharpness of the bend of the paper as it passes over the rod with decreasing paper roll diameter.

9. In a machine for transferring sheets of sheet material, means forming a substantially horizontal support for a stack of sheets of the sheet material and including first and second rolls having their centers on substantially the same horizontal plane and a stop for leading edges of the sheets in the stack and positioned adjacent said first roll, a third roll, a plurality of tapes extending around said rolls, said third roll having its center below said plane so that the stretches of the tapes between said second and third rolls are upwardly inclined, the length of said stack support between said second roll and said stop being less than the length of said sheets so that trailing end portions of the sheets in the stack protrude beyond said second roll and over said inclined tape portions, means for sequentially drawing off the uppermost sheets from the top of the stack of sheets on said support, a source of sheet supply for providing sheets to the inclined tape portions at substantially the same rate as the sheets are drawn from the top of the stack, and means for moving said rolls and tapes so that the inclined tape portions move additional sheets from said sheet supply to pass the leading ends of the additional sheets underneath the trailing end portions of the sheets previously in the stack and the tape portions between said first and second rolls move the additional sheets underneath and in alignment with previous sheets in the stack.

10. An attachment for a printing machine, which machine is constructed to draw sheets individually at a certain station from the top of a stack of sheets from behind a stop means for the sheets and to print the sheets sequentially, said attachment comprising a cutter device adapted to be driven in timed relationship to the printing machine for cutting sheets from a web of sheet material at substantially the same rate as the printing machine is effective for printing the sheets, and tape mechanism for delivering the sheets from said cutter device to said station at which the stop means holds the sheets against the propelling action of the tape mechanism, said tape mechanism comprising three rolls which are out of line with respect to each other, the stretches of said tapes between first and second ones of said rolls supporting said sheets at said station with their trailing edges protruding behind said second roll, and the stretches of the tapes between said second and third rolls extending obliquely and upwardly with respect to the other stretches of said tapes so that the tapes propel sheets from said cutter device on their obliquely extending stretches to have the subsequent sheets pass under the trailing end portions of previous sheets at said station and to position subsequent sheets on the bottom of the stack of sheets at said station.

11. In a printing machine, the combination of mechanism for printing individual sheets of sheet material sequentially, means for drawing ofif individual sheets from the top of a stack of the sheets at a certain station and feeding them to the printing mechanism, a cutter device for sequentially cutting lengths of a web of the sheet material into sheets, tape mechanism for feeding sheets from said cutter device to said station, and stop means effective on the sheets at said station for holding them against the propelling action by said tape mechanism, said tape mechanism comprising a plurality of tapes extending around three movable rolls, the third roll of which is out of line with respect to the first two rolls, the portions of the tapes between said first two rolls supporting the stack of sheets at said station and the portions of the tapes between said second and third rolls being inclined with respect to the stretches of tapes between said first and second rolls, the distance between said stop means and said second roll being less than the length of said sheets so that sheets in the stack protrude over said inclined tape portions whereby the tape mechanism is effective to draw sheets from said cutter device on the upwardly extending portions of said tapes and position them beneath previous sheets protruding over the portions of the tapes between said second and third rolls and position the subsequent sheets beneath previous sheets at said station.

12. In mechanism for decurling sheet material from a roll, means for holding a roll of the sheet material, a member adapted to bear on the roll, means for pivotally mounting the member so that in bearing on the roll it moves toward one side of the center of the roll as the roll decreases in diameter, and means for drawing paper from the roll and around said member so that the member puts a reverse bend on the sheet material as the sheet material is drawn from the roll.

13. In mechanism for decurling a Web of paper as it is drawn from a roll of the paper, means for holding the paper roll, a rod adapted to bear on the periphery of the roll, linkage for mounting said rod so that in bearing on the roll it moves arcuately toward one side of the center of the roll as the roll decreases in diameter, and means for drawing the paper web from the roll and around said rod so that the rod puts a reverse bend on the paper web which increases due to the arcuate movement of the rod as the roll decreases in diameter.

14. In mechanism for decurling a Web of paper as it is drawn from a roll of the paper, means for holding the paper roll, a rotatable roller for carrying the web andv drawing oif paper from the roll, a rod adapted to bear on the periphery of the paper roll, and pivotally mounted linkage for mounting the rod so that the rod in bearing on the paper roll may travel in an arc toward one side of the center of the paper roll and between the center of the paper roll and said roller whereby the web as it is drawn off the paper roll has a reverse bend put on it which increases as the diameter of the paper roll decreases.

15. In mechanism for decurling a web of paper as it is drawn from a paper roll, means including a mandrel extending into the roll for holding the roll, a rotatable feed roller spaced from the paper roll over which web drawn from the paper roll may pass for drawing the web from the paper roll, a bar adapted to bear on the periphery of the roll, a pair of links mounting said bar, said links being pivotally mounted on centers at one side of a tangent to said feed roller and the paper roll for causing the bar to move as it contacts the paper roll in an are between the paper roll and said feed roller so that the web as it is drawn from the paper roll has a reverse bend put on it which increases as the size of the paper roll decreases, and biasing means for forcefully holding said bar in contact with the paper roll.

16. In mechanism for decurling a web of paper as it is drawn from a roll of paper, means for holding the paper roll, a bar adapted to bear on the periphery of the roll, linkage for mounting said bar so that it moves arcuately toward one side of the center of the paper roll as the roll decreases'in diameter, means for drawing the paper Web from the roll and around said bar so that the bar puts a reverse bend on the paper web which increases due to the arcuate movement of the bar as the paper roll decrease in diameter, and means for putting a force on said bar as it bears on the paper roll that in creases as the paper roll decreases in diameter.

17. In mechanism for decurling a web of paper as it is drawn from a roll of paper, means for mounting the paper roll, means for drawing the web from the paper roll and including a rotatable feed roller over which the web passes, a bar adapted to bear on the roll, linkage for holding said bar and pivotally mounted on a center to one side of a tangent to the surfaces of the paper roll and feed roller from which and to which the web respectively travels so that the bar in contact with the periphery of the paper roll moves in an are between the centers of the paper roll and feed roller and toward the center of the paper roll and puts a reverse bend on the web as it is drawn from the paper roll that increases as the size of the paper roll decreases, and means for applying a greater force on said bar as it bears against the paper roll as the size or" the paper roll decreases and including a weight mounted on a lever which in turn is connected to said linkage, said lever being mounted with respect to the linkage so that the effective length of the lever arm increases as the lever and link move with said rod with decreases in paper roll diameter.

18. An attachment for a sheet handling machine, which machine has a table for a stack of sheets and means for feeding the sheets from the top of the stack from a certain station, said attachment comprising a device for cutting a web of sheet material into sheets and a tape frame comprising a plurality of tapes positioned over a plurality of rolls for delivering cut sheets from said cutting device to said station for subsequent removal therefrom by the machine, said tape frame when in position being located above said table and being journalled for swinging movement with respect to the machine so that the tape frame may be swung out from above said table to allow the machine to be utilized with precut sheets positioned on the table.

19. in a printing machine, the combination of mechanism for printing individual sheets of sheet material sequentially, means for sequentially drawing off individual sheets from the top of a stack of the sheets at a certain station and feeding them to said printing mechanism, a table positioned below said station for holding a stack of sheets with the uppermost sheet at said station, a cutter device usable in lieu of said table for providing sheets to said station and efiective for sequentially cutting lengths of a web of the sheet material into sheets, tape mechanism for feeding sheets from said cutter device to said station, and stop means effective on the sheets at said station for holding them against the propelling action of said tape mechanism, said tape mechanism being so constructed that it receives cut sheets from said cutter device and positions them beneath previous sheets in a stack of sheets from the cutter device located at said station whereby the individual sheets may be drawn off the top of the stack of sheets at said station produced by said cutter device.

20. An attachment for a printing machine, which machine is constructed to draw sheets of sheet material individually at a certain station from the top of a stack of sheets from behind a stop means for the sheets and to print the sheet sequentially, said machine including a table positioned below said station for holding a stack of sheets with the uppermost sheet at said station, said attachment comprising a cutter device usable in lieu of said table for providing sheets to said station and efiective for sequentially cutting lengths of a web of the sheet material into sheets, and tape mechanism for delivering the sheets from said cutter device to said station at which said stop means holds the sheets against the propelling action of the tape mechanism, said tape mechanism being so constructed that it receives cut sheets from said cutter device and positions them beneath previous sheets in a stack of sheets from the cutter device located at said station whereby the individual sheets may be drawn off the top of the stack of sheets at said station produced by said cutter device.

21. In a printing machine, the combination of mechanism for printing individual sheets of sheet material sequentially, means including a movably mounted suction foot for drawing oft individual sheets from the top of a stack of the sheets at a certain station and feeding them to the printing mechanism, a table positioned below said station for holding a stack of sheets with the uppermost sheet at said station, a cutter device usable in lieu of said table for providing sheets to said station, said cutter device including a rotatably mounted driven knife movable in shearing relation across a bed knife so as to sequentially cut lengths of a Web of sheet material into sheets, tape mechanism for feeding sheets from the cutter device to said station, and stop means efiective on the sheets at said station for holding them against the propelling action of said tape mechanism, said tape mechanism comprising three rolls which are out of line with respect to each other, the stretches of said tapes between first and second ones of said rolls supporting said sheets at said station with their trailing edges protruding behind said second roll, and the stretches of the tapes between said second and third rolls extending obliquely and upwardly with respect to the other stretches of said tapes so that the tapes propel sheets from said cutter devices on their obliquely extending stretches to have the subsequent sheets pass under the trailing end portions of previous sheets at said station and to position subsequent sheets on the bottom of the stack of sheets at said station whereby the individual sheets may be drawn off the top of 1 the stack of sheets at said station produced by said cutter device.

22. In a printing machine, the combination of mechanism for printing individual sheets of sheet material sequentially, means for sequentially drawing off individual sheets from the top of a stack of the sheets at a certain station and feeding them to the printing mechanism, a cutter device for providing sheets to said station and effective for sequentially cutting lengths of a web of the sheet material into sheets, tape mechanism for feeding sheets from said cutter device to said station and including a tape frame holding a plurality of tapes in looped form, stop means effective on the sheets at said station for holding them against the propelling action of said tapes, said tape mechanism being so constructed that it receives cut sheets from said cutter device and positions them beneath previous sheets in a stack of sheets from the cutter device located at said station whereby the individual sheets may be drawn off the top of the stack of sheets produced by said cutter device at said station, and a table usable in lieu of said cutter device and positioned below said station for holding a stack of sheets with the uppermost sheet at said. station, said tape frame being movably mounted so that said tapes may be moved out of the position occupied by a stack of sheets on said table so that sheets may be Withdrawn from the stack for the printing mechanism.

23. In a printing machine, the combination of mechanism for printing individual sheets of sheet material sequentially, means for sequentially drawing oh. individual sheets from the top of a stack of the sheets at a certain station and feeding them to the printing mechanism, a cutter device for providing sheets to said station and efiective for sequentially cutting lengths of a Web of sheet material into sheets, tape mechanism for feeding sheets from said cutter device to said station, and stop means efiective on the sheets at said station for holding them against the propelling action of said tape mechanism, said tape mechanism being so constructed that it receives cut sheets from said cutter device and positions them beneath previous sheets in a stack of sheets from the cutter device located at said station whereby the individual sheets may be drawn off the top of the stack of sheets at said station produced by said cutter device.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,709,005 Broadmeyer Apr. 16, 1929 1,766,137 Morse June 24, 1930 1,962,128 Beck June 12, 1934 2,023,531 Kleinschrnit et al. Dec. 10, 1935 2,149,028 Meisel Feb. 28, 1939 2,367,416 Matthews Ian. 16, 1945 2,848,942 Persson Aug. 26, 1958 2,963,177 Shields Dec. 6, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS 540,734 Italy Mar. 13, 1956 

1. IN A PRINTING MACHINE, THE COMBINATION OF MECHANISM FOR PRINTING INDIVIDUAL SHEETS SEQUENTIALLY, MEANS FOR HOLDING A ROLL OF PAPER, A CUTTER DEVICE DRIVEN IN TIMED RELATIONSHIP TO SAID PRINTING MECHANISM FOR CUTTING PAPER SHEETS FROM THE PAPER ROLL AT SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME SPEED AS SAID SHEETS ARE PRINTED, MEANS FOR PRESENTING THE CUT SHEETS TO SAID PRINTING MECHANISM FOR PRINTING, AND MEANS FOR DECURLING THE PAPER FROM THE ROLL PRIOR TO SAID CUTTER 